THIS MORNING: ISSA, GOODLATTE UNVEIL STEM VISA BILL -- Just two days after the Senate Judiciary Committee passed an immigration overhaul with key tech provisions, House committee chairmen plan to introduce their own tech bill. Dubbed the SKILLS Act (aka the Supplying Knowledge Based Immigrants and Lifting Levels of STEM Visas Act), the bill would boost the H-1B cap and promote a STEM fund. But it offers few of the same restrictions as the Senate measure — which makes it a hard sell for labor. Issa, the lead sponsor, has briefed tech K-Streeters on the ins and outs of the bill this week, and tech will be in tow in Rayburn this A.M. to stake out its support — the Consumer Electronics Association and Compete America will be on hand.

Story Continued Below

There’s lots to consider, though: Tech may love the bill, which bears resemblance to the I-Squared Act, but it's a piecemeal component to a broader overhaul. Democrats want a full package and are less likely to support smaller parts — and it guts the diversity visa, which they love. Plus, the House’s Gang of Eight has just announced its own tentative agreement and may not want Issa's action to get in the way. Then, of course, there's the Senate bill that’s drifting closer to the House. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, one of the House negotiators, said she’s read the Senate bill twice. (It helps when commuting from California.) "I'm not saying this is necessarily everything," she said, “but compared to our current situation it’s an honest effort to move forward." Jessica Meyers and Michelle Quinn have more on what to watch now: http://politico.pro/Z1YduF

LATER: SENATORS TAKE UP PRITZKER NOMINATION -- President Obama’s pick to lead the Department of Commerce gets questioned by the Senate committee of the same name this morning, and while the storyline surrounding (and in opposition to) Pritzker has thus far come from labor unions over her ties to Hyatt Hotels, there’s obviously a huge tech component to her potential gig. To that end, we’ll be all ears to see where Senators take their lines of questioning — after all, Pritzker has a pretty diverse business background, a Senate Commerce aide points out.

There’s plenty legislators could get into today, Computer and Communications Industry Association boss Ed Black notes. “Whether the issue is Internet governance, spectrum policy, privacy or intellectual property, we need a leader at the helm of the Commerce Department who can balance legitimate, competing interests in a way that delivers the biggest benefit to our overall economy,” he said in a statement to MT. And in case you’re thinking legislators may take a snooze this afternoon after spending Wednesday examining Transportation Secretary nominee Anthony Foxx, think again: Today will be “maybe a little bit more interesting hearing,” Commerce ranking member John Thune told MT with a smile. Watch here at 11: http://1.usa.gov/13LWpaZ

SCOOP: ECPA WAVE GROWS IN HOUSE — Rep. Jared Polis has signed on as the lead Democratic co-sponsor to the Email Privacy Act from Reps. Kevin Yoder and Tom Graves, and the group will announce today the emergence of 77 cosponsors. The movement to install a warrant-for-content requirement gained additional steam earlier this month when Republicans introduced a pair of bills to mimic the Leahy-Lee measure that Senate Judiciary has approved, but the influx of co-sponsors helps keep energy afloat for the measure, which might not get House committee attention in the next several weeks. The lower-chamber lawmakers have been whipping support during votes and other one-on-one conferences, we’re told. As we’ve reported, there’s still some question as to what other changes could be in store for email privacy regulation — so stay tuned.

GOOD THURSDAY MORNING and welcome to Morning Tech, where we’re contemplating Memorial Day plans. If you have space at your barbecue, throw your MT-er a bone(-in pork chop) or something. We’re not picky. For all things tech, do holler at abyers@politico.com and @byersalex, or catch the rest of the team’s contact info after speed read.

POLITICO PRO TO LAUNCH ‘CEO REPORT’ IN JUNE: POLITICO Pro’s latest newsletter, “CEO Report,” will debut next month. Written by POLITICO Playbook’s Mike Allen and Pro Editor Martin Kady II, the once-a-month feature will offer executives and policy professionals an exclusive summary of the most important policy debates. CEO Report’s easy-to-read, forward-looking format is designed to get you up to speed without having to sort through the daily minutia of Washington policy. Interested in receiving CEO Report? Become a Pro today: https://www.politicopro.com/proinfo/

SOFTBANK OFFERS UNUSUAL OVERSIGHT AS PART OF SPRINT DEAL — From the WSJ this morning: “Tokyo-based SoftBank has agreed to give the federal government the right to approve one of the directors it names to Sprint's board... People familiar with the matter said the government is also seeking the right to approve some of Sprint's equipment purchases and wants the removal of Chinese gear from a Sprint affiliate's network.” http://on.wsj.com/12Ow9LY

** A message from The Broadband Coalition: Business broadband stands at the brink of true competition. As the FCC undergoes a leadership transition, more than 650,000 jobs and $184 billion in investments wait to be unleashed. Learn more about the FCC’s opportunity to unleash true broadband competition for small businesses. http://thebroadbandcoalition.com/ **

--FIRST IN MT: DISH REACTS: That plan, DISH General Counsel Stanton Dodge says in a statement to be released publicly today, highlights the serious national security risks of a Softbank takeover of Sprint. "We remain concerned, however, that these reported steps do not adequately protect our national security interests, especially with respect to Sprint’s critical fiber backbone network and Sprint’s extensive contracts to provide important telecommunications services for government, law enforcement and defense customers,” he adds.

STELA REAUTH: SO FRESH, SO CLEAN? — That’s the hunch from House telecom chairman Greg Walden, Tony Romm reports this morning: “Walden stressed...that he plans to ‘continue down a very methodical path’ as the committee weighs the Satellite Television and Extension and Localism Act, or STELA, which expires at the end of 2014. That might mean the committee proceeds with ‘one thing at a time, and not have all of these other things’ in cable and telecom policy attached to what many regard as a must-pass bill, the Oregon Republican said. For now, he emphasized he hasn’t yet ‘honed in’ on how he’ll proceed in the debate.” MORE, for Pros: http://politico.pro/12wZoRN

INDEPENDENT TELECOMS CHEER NEW CAF CASH — Both CenturyLink and Frontier Communications blasted out statements Wednesday afternoon touting the move from acting FCC chair Mignon Clyburn to free up nearly half a billion dollars of Connect America Fund Phase I money. CenturyLink said it was eligible to score at least $90 million to help expand broadband service to rural areas, and Frontier said its rural broadband investments would change lives for affected consumers. “We know firsthand that an additional round of CAF support will stimulate jobs, investment and improved educational opportunities for many more thousands of rural Americans,” Frontier CEO Maggie Wilderotter said in a statement. The American Cable Association, though, knocked the Commission play as re-upping on a flawed program. John Eggerton has more on the FCC’s move: http://bit.ly/18jpag4

TELECOMS KEEP CASH FLOWING — Comcast’s political action committee spent $120,000 in April, dishing money to more than 60 candidates and committees for a total of nearly $500,000 given out in 2013, the latest FEC filings show. AT&T, always a major D.C. influencer, contributed $108,000 of its own PAC’s cash, bringing its year-to-date spend to nearly three-quarters of a million dollars. Google gave $37,500 to 15 recipients in April — they’ve spent nearly $230,000 since January — and Microsoft spread $62,000 across 24 recipients to bump it’s 2013 spending to just over $200,000. Sprint, conversely, spent just $6,000 last month. Their PAC has given out $72,000 so far this year, filings indicate.

RIAA TURNS UP VOLUME ON DMCA AS COPYRIGHT EXAMINATION LOOMS-- The Recording Industry Association of America is eyeing the notice and takedown provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, as Congress gets set to undertake an examination of the nation’s copyright laws. (RIAA Executive Vice President for Anti-Piracy Brad Buckles explains: http://bit.ly/18iUuvt) The group is continuing to squabble with search engines over the fact that copyright holders are forced to send takedown notice after notice for links to specific instances of piracy, because search engines won’t block links to repeat offenders. Search engines seem to think their current practices are sufficient — a Google spokesperson told us that in the last month, Mountain view received more than 15 million copyright removal requests for search and processed them on average within eight hours.

BRIEFLY: VERMONT TOUTS PATENT SUIT — Vermont Attorney General Bill Sorrell has filed a patent suit against MPHJ Technology Investments, in what he’s calling the first state AG lawsuit against a patent troll. Read the complaint here: http://bit.ly/18iMtGQ

--AND: 13,000 ‘ACTIONS’ SO FAR FOR iMARCH: Day Two of the virtual march for immigration reform continues today — Issa will be answering questions via livestream, and Reps. Luis Gutierrez and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen will be holding Twitter townhalls. Full event listing: http://bit.ly/18jqiAA

** A message from The Broadband Coalition: The FCC has a significant opportunity to promote free market competition. As the Commission transitions to new leadership, competitive broadband providers encourage the FCC to make decisions based on careful market analysis and to implement competitive policies that will drive innovative broadband and IP-based services for U.S. businesses. Economic analysis shows that, if the FCC adopts pro-competition policies, the result will be hundreds of billions of dollars in new investments and hundreds of thousands of new jobs. We trust new FCC leadership will recognize that while technology evolves rapidly, market power still persists, and to sustain progress and innovation, we must preserve functioning, competitive markets. We seek clear “rules of the road” that facilitate companies and consumers reaping the benefits of real competition in the business broadband market — better customer service, lower prices and new innovative products designed to meet evolving communications needs. Learn More: http://thebroadbandcoalition.com/ **

About The Author

Alex Byers is a technology reporter for POLITICO Pro. He was previously a senior Web producer at POLITICO, where he helped run POLITICO's Twitter and Facebook accounts. Before joining the Web team, he graduated from The George Washington University, where he served as the 2009-10 editor-in-chief of The GW Hatchet, the school's award-winning student newspaper.

Previously, he has interned at washingtonpost.com, Dateline NBC and General Mills Inc. He hails from Minneapolis and is an avid Twins fan, musician and golfer.